Substance clamp for slicing machines



July 5, 1932.

THOMAS SUBSTANCE CLAMP FOR SLICING MACHINES Filed July 27,, 1927 Patented July 5, 1932 TATES PATENT OFFICE HENRY THOMAS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO U. S. SLICING MACHINE OOM PANY, OF LA FORTE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA SUBSTANCE CLAMP FOR SLIOING MACHINES Application filed July 27, 1927, Serial No. 208,666, and in Great Britain July 19, 1926.

The present invention relates in general to as meat and the like and has particular reference to an improved substance clamp for such machines for use in holding the substance to be clamped securely in position on the machine.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a clamp of the character described which may be used for clamping substances of different shapes, thus avoiding the inconvenience of applying a difier'ent clamp to the machine every time diiierently shaped substances are presented tothe machine for slic- An important object of this invention is to provide a clamp which, when arranged over the substance supporting table, will provide an unobstructed space into which the sub- 5 stance be placed without the necessity of moving the substance endwise under the clamp as is the usual practice in connection with slicing machine clamps. In the present instance there is a chain-like clamping bar adapted to conform partially to the shape of the substance being clamped and this is suspended from a rigid clamping bar which can be moved to an inoperative position remote from the substance support.

vide an improved form of clamp which may be used for clamping substances of different shapes without subjecting them to distortion.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which several practical embodiments have been selected for illustration.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of still another form of my improved clamp;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the form of clamp shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a view in cross section taken along a vertical line through pin 7 5 in Fig. 1 and looking from the left in that figure.

The clamp in accordance with this invention is characterized by a number of gripping devices which suits the clamp to differently shaped substances with the gripping devices A further object of the invention is to pro carrying a gripping device made up of a se-.

ries of hingedly connected members to form a chain, so to speak, so cont-rived that it can be caused to assume difiierent shapes to suit the shape of the difierent substances to be clamped. With this end in view, it is pro; posed to provide a clamping bar 56 which may be pivotally connected at one end 57 to a supporting member (not shown) on a slicing machine. The substance gripping device preferably comprises a chain, so to, speak, comprising a series of gripping members 58 disposed along the front and rear sides of the gripping bar. Each side of the chain comprises two central gripping members 59 and 60, two terminal gripping mem- J bers 61 and 62 and two intermediate members 63 and 64. The central gripping members 59 and 60 are pivoted to the bar 56 by a transverse pin 65 which passes through the bar and the remaining ones of the gripping members are free of the bar, at least directly so, but are pivoted end to end by pins 66. The gripping members are made up preferably with the side pieces 67 and plates 68 which bridge the space between the side pieces. 67 and having flanged longitudinal edges interengaging the upturned beads 69 along the edges of the side members 67. The terminal members 61 and 62 of the chain are pivoted as at 7 O and 71 to the ends of links 72 and 73 which in turn are pivoted to pins 74: and 75 which slide in'the closed horizontal slots 7 6 and 77 in the clamping bar 56. Wing nuts 78 and 79 are provided for the pins so that they may be held at any position in the length of the slots 7 6 and 77.

Now with the gripping device straightened out as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the pins and wing nuts will be positioned at the inner ends of the slots, the wing nuts being tightened up to hold the adjustment. Should it become desirable to move the gripping device into a position to grip a curved or rounded substance the wing nuts will be loosened and the pins moved toward the opposite ends of the slots. This operation will impart a thrust to the terminal members 61 and 62 through the links 72 and 7 3 and when these members have moved to the limit of their pivotal connection with the intermediate members 63 and 64, the members then will impart a downward pull to the intermediate members and project them relatively of the central members 59 and 60.

The curvature of the gripping device may be determined by the distance the pins are moved from the inner ends of the slots. In this way, various adjustments on the shape of the gripping device may be effected. Since the pins '74 and 75 are movable independently of each other, the members on one side of the central members 59 and 60 are independently adjustable with respect to those on the opposite side. This will, of course, widen the range of adjustment for the shape of the device.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details of the forms shown without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and I therefore do not care to be limited to the precise construction shown in any of the different forms disclosed.

I claim 1. A substance clamp for slicing machines comprising a clamping bar having a substance gripping device along the lower edge thereof comprising chain-like members hingedly connected to the clamping bar intermediate the outer ends thereof, and means connecting the end ones of said members for ad justing the device to suit differently shaped substances to be gripped thereby.

2. A substance clamp for slicing machines comprising a clamping bar having a substance gripping device along the lower edge thereof comprising chain-like members hingedly connected to the clamping bar intermediate the outer ends thereof, and means connecting the end ones of said members for adjusting the device to suit differently shaped substances to be gripped thereby comprising pivoted links, slots in the clamping bar, and pins on the links slidable in said slots.

3. A substance clamp for slicing machines comprising a clamping bar having a substance gripping device along the lower edge thereof comprising chain-like members hingedly connected to the clamping bar intermediate the outer ends thereof, and means connecting the end ones of said members for adjusting the device to suit differently shaped substances to be gripped thereby comprising pivoted links, slots in the clamping bar, pins on links slidable in said slots, and means on the pins for holding the same in adjusted position in said slots.

at. A substance clamp for slicing machines comprising a clamping bar, a chain-like member pivotally connected to said clamping bar for engaging and holding a substance adapted to be clamped thereby, and means for changing the position of the pivotal support for the chain-like member.

5. A clamping member for a meat slicing machine comprising a clamping bar, links pivoted together to form a chain-like clamping member, means for supporting said chainlike member on said bar near its ends and at an intermediate portion thereof, and means for adjusting said means for supporting said ends.

6. A clamping member for meat slicing machines comprising a clamping bar, a flexible member having its operative portion piv- .otally supported to said clamping bar near the ends of said operative portion and also at an'intermediate point thereof, and means for changing the relative position of the pivotal points for said flexible member.

7. A clamp member for substance clamps comprising a bar, and a chain-like member having links pivoted to each other and carried by said bar and having a plurality of operative positions relative to said bar, one of said operative positions being that position in which the links of said chain-like member lie in engagement with one of the surfaces of said bar, another of said positions being that in which some of the links of said chain-like member are spaced from said bar.

8. A clamping member for a substance clamp of a slicing machine comprising a clamping bar, a chain pivoted to said bar iii-- termediate its ends, said chain being adapted to lie along one edge of said barand in engagement therewith in one position for said chain, and means for moving some of the links of said chain away from said bar.

9. A clamping member for a substance clamp of a slicing machine comprising a clamping bar, a chain pivoted to said bar intermediate its ends, said chain being adapted to lie along one edge of said bar and in engagement therewith in one position for said chain, and means for moving some of the links of said chain away from said bar, the links of said chain having a substantially fiat substance engaging portions adapted to form a substantially continuous substance engaging surface from one end of said chainlike member to the other end thereof.

10. A clamping member for substance clamps of slicing machines comprising a bar, a pivotal member extending through said bar, links pivotally supported on said pivoted member by means of cars arranged along opposite sides of said bar, additional links pivoted to said first mentioned link, and adjustable arms connected to some of sald last mentioned links for varying the position of said links relatively to said bar and to each other.

11. A clamping member for meat slicing machines comprising a bar adapted to be mounted for movement toward and away from the substance supporting surface against which the substance is to be clamped, and links pivoted to said bar and to each other to form a flexible clamping element movable with said bar for clamping a substance against its support and adapted to conform to the shape of the substance to be clamped.

12. A clamping member for a substance clamp of a slicing machine comprising a clamping bar adapted to be moved toward and away from the substance supporting surface of a slicing machine, means adjustably supported by said bar, and link members pivoted to each other and also pivotally held on said clamping bar by said adjustable means, each of said adjustable means being pivotally connected to one of said links.

13. A clamping member for a substance clamp comprising a clamping bar adapted to be mounted for movement toward and away from the substance supporting surface of a slicing machine, arms carried by said bar and adjustable thereon, and links pivoted to each other and also pivoted to said clamping bar by means of said arms, said arms being also connected to said links.

14:. A clamping bar for a substance clamp comprising a member adapted to be mounted for movement toward and away from a substance supporting surface, a chain-like member pivoted thereto, and a link adjustably mounted on said clamping bar and having one end thereof pivotally connected to said chain-like member, said adjustment being for the purpose of imparting different shapes to said chain-like member to enable said chainlike member to more readily conform to the shapes of the various articles adapted to be clamped thereby.

15. In a slicing machine, the combination with a rigid bar adapted to be mounted for movement to and from a substance support, a flexible element having portions thereof pivotally connected to said rigid bar, and means for changing the shape of said flexible element to adapt the surface thereof to the shape of the adjacent surface of various substances, said flexible element being carried by said rigid bar and movable therewith.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this eighth day of July, A. D. 1927.

HENRY THOMAS. 

